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December Newsletter: A Slight Departure

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Christmascandles
Dear Friends,
This year we are taking a slight departure from our annual bashing of secular Christmas, to urge you to take inventory on the condition of your children’s hearts.

What if you discovered, quite by accident, that your married daughter was flirting with the UPS man? Would you not beg her to remember the vows she made before God and man? And wouldn’t you feel sick if she laughed and continued to engage in such destructive behavior?

Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians implored “…I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” If your children are to spend eternity with Christ, as a godly parent, don’t you see a need to train your children to treasure Him above everything else?

For all the warmth and joy that the Christmas season can bring, it can also become a cesspool of impulsive passions. Or it can be a season of opportunities, uniquely designed to sanctify your family. The caroling missed because of the flu, the must-have toy not purchased because of a scaled back budget, the annual Christmas pie tossed because the cat sampled it, are all occasions to take a peek into where your child’s affections are. For all the hoopla surrounding Christmas, there is disturbingly little emphasis placed on pleasing the One whose birth we are celebrating, and wholly too much importance placed on making ourselves happy

Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish Presbyterian theologian (1600-1661), wrote “… if you see a man shut up in a closed room, idolizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in their light, and you wish to make him truly happy, you would begin by blowing out all his lamps; and then throw open the shutters to let in the light of heaven.”

This Christmas, may we all remember to whom we are betrothed and set our affections fully on Him,

Enjoying Timberdoodle products in a whole new way,
Dan, Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel, and Pearl
www.timberdoodle.com

P.S. Throughout December we plan to be posting old family Christmas videos, details on our favorite Christmas traditions (including camel bags!) and even a Christmas recipe on our Facebook/blog. If that interests you, become Facebook fans and follow Doodleblog to stay in the loop!

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Is it time to kick the kids out of the house?

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pumpkinpie
Dear Friends,

Moving out at eighteen is a fairly recent, definitely cultural idea, one which regardless of the spiritual implications makes no economic or ecological sense. Does every eighteen-year-old need his own stove and refrigerator? How many square feet of housing are wasted on a solitary individual when the more prudent solution is to share? Why are some people getting their knickers in a knot over the emissions of cows while ignoring the massive impact this exodus of young people has on carbon footprints?

There seems to be a campaign afoot among relatives and friends to boot our adult children out of our home. Apparently living at home makes them half child, half adult. Forget that these same “quasi-adults” have been working for Timberdoodle since they were old enough to toddle down the aisle and stock the shelves. With those Timberdoodle paychecks, they have engaged in some very adult-like behavior, such as purchasing all their clothes, sports equipment, and gifts. They have managed a mini-farm and funded the construction of several outbuildings and the installation of chain-link fencing. They have paid their share of every family vacation, bought their own furniture, contributed to numerous family projects, financed the building of fresh water wells overseas, and purchased and given us over five acres of timbered land. They have bought cars, managed their own cell phones, invested in CDs and stocks, and even bankrolled the family food budget. Aside from their jobs at Timberdoodle they are also trained EMTs and respond to over 400 emergency calls a year, ranging from false alarms and fall injuries to amputations and gunshot wounds. These are not coddled kids.

But unlike many of their peers who are living away from home, these adults are kept accountable. Our opinion is that young adults who spend huge amounts of time living alone tend to cater to the flesh, and those who cut off family accountability will have a harder time serving a spouse when the time comes. On the other hand, those adults who choose to remain in the home will always have more than enough opportunities for sanctification.

Because we are so clearly made for community, David, in Psalm 68, celebrates that “God settles the solitary in a home.” We love our kids and know that our responsibility before God does not end when they turn eighteen. As we rub shoulders at the warehouse and share laughter at the office, we know we are blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy each other every day. This Thanksgiving, may your family enjoy the richness of a community life that is unique to families.

Dan, Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel, and Pearl

P.S. Not surprisingly, this is an issue that can raise a very good discussion. For instance, we all know adults who live at home simply to avoid responsibility and sponge off Mom and Dad. (I hope it’s obvious that we are not advocating that!) But what do you think? What is your family’s approach? If you haven’t faced this situation yet, what are your plans? We encourage you to comment below and join the discussion!

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Age Appropriate Chores

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chores
Since about the time we could toddle Mom began assigning us chores, and due to Mom’s early expectations and delegation talents we grew up with an expectation that we always would have jobs to complete and responsibilities to manage.

If your homeschooled children are still quite young and you are looking ahead for how to begin this whole process, you might find this list helpful with age appropriate chores for preschoolers all the way up through the teens. While not an exhaustive list, it gives a helpful starting place.

Or if your family has likewise been engaged in work since your children were little you might instead have some further helpful suggestions for new families starting out, just post them below!

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Ways To Help

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As is often the case when we encounter homeschoolers or other families experiencing suffering or hardship, be it the endless responsibility of caring for special needs children, suffering sickness, or any other kind of heavy burden, we often find it difficult to know how best to help the afflicted family.

If you have also wrestled with what are appropriate and helpful ways to assist these families in times of need, take a look at John Knight’s blog. Under the “Helpful Things” category is an increasing resource of different ways his church has specifically been a help to him and his wife with their special needs son and his wife’s cancer.

Very helpful, especially since it comes from the heart of someone who has experienced both suffering and the comfort of friends.

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September Newsletter – Homeschooling Grandpa

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Dear Friends,

When we embarked on our homeschooling adventure over twenty-five years ago, we knew we wanted to invest in products that would stand the test of time, not only for our burgeoning family, but also perhaps for the generation to come. We didn’t even consider that the next generation to employ these products would be the generation that preceded us.

Six weeks ago, Dan’s eighty-eight-year-old dad suffered a stroke following minor surgery. After he was stabilized, he was transferred to an excellent rehabilitation center for follow-up treatment. As a family, we were privileged to sit in on a number of his therapy sessions and found it a great relief to see that much of this specialized care is nothing more than homeschooling for the elderly. The tools they use are the same or similar to what we used with our children, and the program is indistinguishable from what we have utilized for over twenty years.

Just like we have done for our children from the time they could crawl to the day they graduated from home school, these therapists determined what goals would be appropriate for Byron and then used his natural interests to make the work involved as palatable as possible. In one instance they used a golf club, tennis ball, and therapy dog to strengthen Byron’s weak side, which was much more fun than just lifting weights!

As we watched the therapists begin re-teaching Byron to read and write, saw them probing different options for speech development, and observed them working with him to regain both gross- and fine-motor skills, our minds raced. With our tools, experience, and great love for Byron, we feel well-prepared for this place to which God has brought our family. Over the years, Byron, a former public school teacher and principal, has progressed from tolerating homeschooling to being a faithful supporter of it. I’m sure he never dreamed that one day he would become a homeschool student himself.

Byron is home now and has made tremendous physical gains. To address the lingering mental and language difficulties, we have already deployed favorites such as Mighty Mind, Wedgits and Geopuzzles. Recently we added Rosetta Stone English to our routine and are excited to see how well it is working for him.

Is there someone in your own family or church that has suffered a stroke? If so, dust off your home school supplies and employ them with a whole new generation; you will be blessed beyond measure!

Enjoying Timberdoodle products in a whole new way,

Dan and Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel and Pearl

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Read It Again!

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“The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers ‘I’ve read it already’ to be a conclusive argument against reading a work. We have all known women who remembered a novel so dimly that they had to stand for half an hour in the library skimming through it before they were certain they had once read it. But the moment they became certain, they rejected it immediately. It was for them dead, like a burnt-out match, an old railway ticket, or yesterday’s paper; they had already used it. Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course of their life.”

—C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism (Cambridge, 1961), p. 2

HT:Miscellanies. A Cross-centered blog

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Don’t Play With Fire

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Photo by (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) # viewed at Boston.com’s BigPicture

Have you talked yet with your young homeschoolers about the dangers of playing with fire? Authorities have just determined that the California Station Fire was caused by arson!

Now is a great time to discuss the ramifications of careless use of fire with your homeschoolers!

Here are some phenomenal pictures of the current California fire, the Station Fire.

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Homeschooled, 5 Years Old, and Finalist on America’s Got Talent

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Whether or not you would choose to have your young daughter compete on America’s Got Talent, you will likely be able to appreciate the innocence of Kaitlyn Maher and enjoy her sweet spirit.

Why does Kaitlyn sing? She says, “It glorifies God and it makes people happy.”

According to the Washington Post, “Kaitlyn, who is home-schooled, has always been bright. She reads at the fourth-grade level, and loves playing math and spelling games with her mom.”

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Incredible.

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underocean
Nine different pictures of vibrantly colored Ice Jellies posted on BBC’s website, don’t let your homeschooled children miss out on seeing these marvelous creations!

My favorite is the large colonial physonect siphonophore Marrus orthocanna! Say that 5 times fast….say that at all…. 🙂

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